The Last Few Weeks

Life has been a crazy whirlwind lately.  A whirlwind consisting of Spring Break, Easter, Shawn's work travel, dance, art classes, school parties, soccer, and Hand Foot and Mouth.

We've been house hunting for the past several months, which has been way more stressful than I imagined it would be. There just hadn't been much hitting the market and now that there finally is, they are selling super fast. I'm afraid we're going to have to get really aggressive. A house we loved online went under contract in less than 24 hours of being on the market. Insane right?

Shawn had a work trip that just so happened to fall over Spring Break so the kids and I tagged along and made a vacation out of it. So the whole week of Spring Break we were in Denver Colorado. Shawn and the kids had never been to the mountains.  I've been several times, but was still in awe of it's beauty. The kids and I always manage to find ways of keeping entertained on these trips, and this one was no exception.

Did I mention that it's an 8 hour car trip?  That's one way, with no stops! We ended up doing it in about 10 or 10 1/2 hours.  We stopped at a McDonalds with a play place on the way there, and the way back (about halfway) so the kids could stretch their legs and eat.

We stayed at a cool hotel called The Curtis.  Every floor is themed although a few were sort of lame with decor, ours was awesome.  We were on the fun and games floor which looked like video games.

Our room was really fun and modern.

And the view was awesome!

Monday was the day we traveled there.

Tuesday we went to the Aquarium.

The girls got their picture taken with a mermaid (Ben was too shy and embarrassed to do it) and we got to pet the sting rays.

Tuesday afternoon and evening, Shawn was off of work so we went to Breckenridge to let the kids enjoy snow and actually be in the mountains.  We got caught in a blizzard but managed to get there and back safely.

Wednesday, I took the kids to the Nature and Science Museum.

Thursday we went to the Children's Museum.

And Thursday night we went to Casa Bonita.  When in Denver...  Ok, so it was just as I remembered. The food, not great, but the atmosphere is why people go.

And it snowed on us while we were there!

Which allowed for some fun snowball fighting.

Friday, before leaving town, we ate at Sam's No. 3, which has been featured on Diners Drive Ins and Dives.  Let me tell you, it was worth the wait we had, because it's so popular. YUM!

After brunch, we hit the road for our long trip home.

That weekend we had a birthday party the kids were all invited to.  Ben had a sore throat so I didn't allow him to go. Shawn kept him and Scottie with him so I didn't have to take them. It was at a gymnastics place, which made for a really fun birthday party.

The party was for Rylie's best friend Scarlett and her sister, Ben and Sydney's really good friend, Samantha.  Over the last year or so, all of the kids have gotten really close.  

By the time we came out from the birthday party, Ben's sore throat had also become a rash, which we quickly found out was Hand, Foot, and Mouth. By the next day, it had also spread to Sydney and a few days later, Scottie came down with it.  Ben missed 6 days of school and Sydney missed 5. We took them to the doctor to make sure they were no longer contagious before sending them back.  Poor Ben had it so severely that he still looks pretty rough and he's been back at school now for 2 weeks.

Since Ben and Sydney were sick, they had to miss their first soccer games of the season. Rylie never caught it though and was at her soccer game, bright and early.  It was so cold, and pouring down rain. She did not enjoy it at all because of how miserable the weather was.

I ended up, sitting in the wet and muddy grass and taking off my fuzzy socks, so Rylie could wear them on her hands for gloves.

That night we dyed Easter eggs and set the trap for the Easter Bunny, since the next day was Easter.

Easter was a super lazy day.  We came downstairs and saw the baskets and empty trap. That darn bunny was too fast for us.  The kids hunted for eggs that were filled with candy and lego men that the Easter Bunny hid and then we laid around, watched TV and iPads, and ate.

Since everyone was sick over Easter we did our big family Easter the next Sunday.

This week has been really crazy.  We've had the normal schedules of everyone's school. Tuesday Sydney got to take a toy to school to play with and today she took a big fruit salad I made, for her class surprise party for her class para. Rylie took a baby picture to school since it was baby week, and they did some fun baby related activities, guessed who's baby picture belonged to who in the class, and got to lay on a table while a teacher traced them onto giant paper and then paint themselves. We've had both Sydney and Rylie's dance classes, Ben had his clay class and his drawing and painting class, Ben and Sydney had their soccer practices and marathon club, Sydney and Rylie had dance pictures, and to top it all off Shawn was gone most of the week, so I was going it alone.

Everything has been so wild and crazy and to top it off, Scottie's birthday is a little over a week away. Her birthday present shopping has been done, although it hasn't all arrived yet. I just have to figure out party food, cake, and decorations.  The theme is Ben and Holly since she's obsessed.  My baby is turning 2!